Tom's Hardware > Forum > Storage > Hard Disks > Most stable HDD?
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shazzmoe   07-01-2009 at 02:08:15 AM

It looks like many similar questions have been asked but I can't seem to find anything within the past year.

I'm currently using a VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB and for the time being it works just great. However I've heard talk about these not lasting as long as other drives.

I need a Hard drive that can be left on for long periods of time without fear of failure. Sometimes this might be for 24hrs other times for 2 weeks at a time. Storage space doesn't matter as long as I have enough to install windows + 2gigs for my program I will be running.

Is solid state the way to go now or would a smaller stable HDD be the way?

Any input is appreciated.

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Bronze Storage badge r_manic   07-01-2009 at 10:13:42 AM
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If you're worried about heat or moving parts that wear out, then SSDs are the way to go. Unfortunately, as you probably know, they aren't as spacious as hard disks. And of course, they're much more expensive.

In my experience, leaving my Seagate (see details below) on for three weeks (I was downloading a lot of stuff, and would always work on the desktop when I got home) didn't lead to anything bad.

------------------------------ Desktop | E7300 | P5KPL-AM | 2GB DDR2 667MHz | NVIDIA 9500 GT | ST3320613AS | w2228h
XPS M1330 | T8300 | Dell 0U8042 | 2GB DDR2 800MHz | NVIDIA 8400M GS | WD2500BEVS-75US | 1280 x 800
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cjl   07-01-2009 at 10:34:29 AM
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Actually, the Velociraptor is among the most reliable of any non-enterprise disk. It should be just fine. I wouldn't worry with just about any modern drive though. I have my computer on pretty much 24/7 (with a pair of Velociraptors and a 1TB Caviar Black), and I don't worry about HDD failure at all. If you absolutely need top end reliability (and are willing to pay for it), look at WD RE drives or Seagate Cheetah and Savvio drives (the Cheetah NS.2 is a good choice). You'll need a SAS controller card for the Seagates though. SSDs are good too, though I'm not sure I'd trust them to the same extent as the Seagate enterprise drives - they're still too new to have that level of proven reliability IMHO.


Message edited by cjl on 07-01-2009 at 10:35:31 AM
------------------------------ Asus P6T deluxe
i7 965 @ 4.2GHz (200*21), 1.384V
12GB Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 CAS 7
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Bronze Storage badge sub mesa   07-01-2009 at 01:00:11 PM
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If you need real reliability there is only one choice: SSD.

All HDD are too unreliable to fully trust your data on, without redundancy. Even 1% per year failure rate is much too high. SSDs have near-zero failure rate; they cannot fail in the way mechanical disks fail. The only real thing i can think of is water/moisture damage, static damage and voltage problems (+20V instead of +3.3V won't be good for the SSD).

But flash memory is almost immune to physical trauma or vibrations, and temperature variation which is the silent HDD-killer.

------------------------------ ...man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.
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shazzmoe   07-02-2009 at 04:17:06 AM
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ok I appreciate the help. Looks like I'll probably keep with my current drive until this next wave of SSDs comes out in the hopefully near future

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